shoot-n-goose wrote:But what you are saying is geared towards puncture resistance and sidewall strength, not wear resistance. I'm not saying Duratracs are not good tires, if you look on the first page I recommended them, having just personally mounted and balanced them. I'm sure they could make a tire that will last 100k on mining roads, but would be stiff as all hell and pretty useless for anything but driving on the worst-condition-ever mining roads.

Commercial tires are made to LAST on or off road. Thats the beauty of them as most consumer tires are geared one way or another (street or dirt). I was adding to their tread life durability that they also have great puncture resistance which I figured people would find appealing, not just hone in and say that they wont last on-road. Mine tires always last less time than road tires even if theres never a flat due to how quickly those horrible roads wear the tires down. For those of you that think the same tires at a mine will have a longer tread life than if they were on a highway need to go drive down a mine road.

How do you even compare a "mining" tire to a "road" tire? They are two completely different concepts. OTR tires (mining tires) are specifically designed with severe duties in mind. I work for Bridgestone. I deal with Ag, ORT, pass/light truck, and truck/bus. Comparing an OTR tire to a "highway" tire is like comparing a rear tire on a combine to a drive tire on a semi. (Im sure that most people thing there is only one kind of tire on a truck. In reality, there are three different treads)

Also, on that note, a "commercial" light truck tire generally has a colsed shoulder, and is not the best traction tire. Closed shoulders provide sability, and reduce tread squirm, which in turn increases the life of the tire, but also reduce traction significantly. You find most "commercial" tires on 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks that do quite a bit of hauling, like cattle farmers with horse trailers, or construction crew trucks. Commercial tires are not designed for off-road use, they are designed for heavy loads, on the road.

There is also a difference between a commercial tire and a "heavy duty" tire (e+ load ranges).

Sorry for the banter, but this is one of the few things on this board that I DO know my head from my @$$ on.